Stellvertretung

Is the term 'substitution' broad enough to include the life, passion and death of Jesus Christ? In order to answer this question, Stephan Schaede begins by describing the previous Latin history of this term. His study of the ancient and medieval texts shows how the seven Latin forerunners of the term influenced its meaning. In the second part of the book, which includes texts ranging from Anselm of Canterbury to Kant, the author examines how the subject of substitution gradually appeared in soteriology and explains why the use of the term substitution was late in becoming entrenched in the language and immediately became problematic. The author shows that the term substitution indicates an unsolved soteriological problem which it is unable to solve itself.